1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for preparing preparations for oral administration (hereinafter, referred to as oral preparations for brevity), more particularly, to a process for masking the bitter taste of an active ingredient which tastes bitter when administered orally.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, many pharmaceuticals have an unpleasant taste, particularly they have a bitter taste or create an irritating sensation upon oral administration. Such pharmaceuticals include many important ones, for example, antibiotics such as macrolide antibiotics, e.g., midecamycin, kitasamycin, josamycin, erythromycin, etc., tetracyclic antibiotics, chloramphenicol and the like, synthetic pharmaceuticals such as chlorpromazine hydrochloride, ethaphenon hydrochloride, buformin hydrochloride, etc., and many other pharmaceutical agents.
The inventors have conducted extensive research on processes for making such bitter active ingredients easy to take orally, and previously completed the inventions described in their copending Japanese Patent Applications 80179/1974 and 80180/1974.
As a result of further research, the inventors reached the present invention in which there is provided a method for masking the bitter taste of macrolide antibiotics such as midecamycin, kitasamycin, josamycin and the like.